lizards on lunch break

as kids, we all have dreams and goals for ourselves. one of mine was to catch a lizard. i grew up in new york where lizards aren't generally available for catching unless i went to my neighbor's terrarium and that didn't count. however, my grandparents had a house in florida where they spent every winter and every couple years, we'd drive down there (it took about 22 hours in the car) to spend a week.

when we got down to the land of warmth and sand, my brother and i would always chase the lizards around and try to catch them. i never managed to do any better than to graze one with a finger before they'd zip away from me, but my brother caught a few.

we had read in books that lizards drop off their tails sometimes when they're caught by a predator and grow back a new one over time. this intrigued me beyond reason and i had wonderful visions of holding a lizard tail in my hand while the rest of him scampered away, scott free. it didn't seem disgusting at all to me, just amazing and i kind of wished i could drop off an arm or a leg if someone i didn't like ever grabbed me.


since we've moved to our current home, we now live in the land of the lizards. they're not the big, scaly ones, but rather the little green and brown ones that don't get more than a few inches long with soft skin that caves in a little on the sides when they breathe fast. brooke (and our cats) are excited by the lizards and brooke decided that it was her goal to catch one. huh, must be genetic.

she sits out on the back terrace and waits for them to shoot past on the railing that serves as the reptile highway. a few days ago she snuck up on one and made a mad grab only to end up with a tiny little tail chunk flailing about in her grip. she screamed and threw the tail into the bush & then ran to tell me about it. that's when i remembered how i had once dreamed of holding a tail myself, not realizing that they thrash about once they've come free.

my desire to possess a tail is gone.

today i let brooke go downstairs for lunch and almost as soon as she went down, she came running, squealing right back up to my room yelling "i finally did it! i finally did it!" when she charged into the room, she was holding a little lizard by the tail, with a great big grin on her face.

i was a bit concerned that the tail would snap off and there would be a crop tailed reptile running around my bedroom, so i took her picture and sent her back downstairs to release her critter outside. she stopped on the way to show the lizard to her little nim cat & kitty snatched that lizard right out of her hand, leaving the tail in brooke's fingers and charging off with the rest of it in her mouth. she played cat and lizard with it for a couple minutes before we managed to get it away from her and cart it back outside. thankfully nim is more pouncy than bitey.

i guess that little lizard will have quite a tale to tell to his friends later today. and i bet he'll remember his mama's words of wisdom and not go into people houses again.